Following years of legal squabbling, German music copyright collector GEMA has struck a deal with YouTube that enables artists to be paid for every view and removes the obnoxious restrictions for Germany that banned even the most popular YouTube music videos.

German viewers were denied access to many popular YouTube videos after companies failed to agree on a per-stream fee GEMA demanded from YouTube after a previous licensing agreement expired in 2009.

Following the collapse of the negotiations, GEMA restricted access to the work of some 70,000 German artists, songwriters and composers who are GEMA members, as well as to the video content by foreign musicians it represents in Germany. In the latter category fell such big names as Coldplay, U2, Lady Gaga, Pink Floyd, Psy, Abba and many others.

According to Portals Statista estimates dating back to 2013, a staggering 60 percent of the top 1,000 most popular YouTube videos were blocked by GEMA as result of the legal battle – to the mounting frustration of German viewers.

The seven-year dispute revolved around the notion of licensing rights. GEMA argued that YouTube makes huge profits from streaming the videos and should thereby pay copyright fees to GEMA. In turn, the video-streaming service, which is owned by Google, insisted that it does not own the video and that’s why should not be held accountable for their use, arguing that the uploaders themselves, not YouTube, should pay a fee to GEMA.

While the details of the new deal struck Tuesday have not yet been released, it is understood that YouTube is likely to make a one-time payment to GEMA covering the years from 2009 to the present day, which the copyright company will then divide among the artists it represents, Der Spiegel reported.

From November 1, YouTube will be reportedly sharing profits with GEMA it receives from advertising.

"The proceeds from the use of music will be then distributed to the members according to the distribution plan of GEMA," the company told Der Spiegel. The amount of payment has not been disclosed.

In its official blog, YouTube hailed the deal, saying that the milestone agreement means “a big day for music in Germany.”

“This is a win for music artists around the world, enabling them to reach new and existing fans in Germany, while also earning money from the advertising on their videos,” it said in a statement, adding that the blocked-screen message saying a video is not available to German viewers due to copyright issues will no longer be shown to them.

As the news reached the broader public, German music fans rejoiced with chains of jubilant comments in German appearing under the most popular YouTube videos.